Clubs oppose inclusion of Churchill Brothers into ISL

As the 2025-26 season of the Indian Super League (ISL) finally looked set to get underway another controversy has surfaced with I-League side Churchill Brothers requesting induction into the league — which was opposed vehemently by all men’s top-flight clubs.
Churchill Brothers had provisionally finished at the top of the I-League standings after the final matchday last season. However, Inter Kashi, which had four points deducted by the All India Football Federation’s (AIFF) Appeals Committee — a decision that would have otherwise made it champion — challenged the sanction at the Court of Arbitration for Sport, eventually getting the verdict in its favour.
Kashi was then crowned I-League champion, and earning its promotion to the ISL.
However, one AIFF Executive Committee (ExCo.) member and two Co-opted ExCo. members wrote to the Federation seeking Churchill’s inclusion. Accordingly, the AIFF’s top brass scheduled an ExCo. meeting on February 9, one that could not happen because of ‘lack of quorum’.
The meeting has now been rescheduled to Thursday at noon and will be held virtually, but all ISL clubs have objected to Churchill’s inclusion.
“As the collective clubs participating in the ISL, we wish to place on record a clear and unanimous position that the league composition for the forthcoming season must remain unchanged and that the addition of any new club at this stage is not acceptable,” the clubs wrote in a joint letter to the AIFF on February 9, a copy of which Sportstar has.
The clubs listed seven reasons why Churchill’s inclusion could jeopardise the credibility of the league:
1) Absence of sporting merit
2) Financial and operational viability of clubs
3) Precedent for the broader pyramid
4) Lack of a defined legal and regulatory framework for such inclusion
5) Disruption to the sporting format and calendar
6) Financial and commercial prejudice to participating clubs
7) Impact on contractual and sporting commitments of clubs
“Any mid-cycle or ad-hoc inclusion of a club outside of an established sporting pathway undermines competitive integrity and sets a precedent contrary to merit-based participation, thereby compromising the credibility of the competition,” the clubs warned.
The 2025-26 season of the ISL will comprise 91 matches and will be played in a truncated format with all 14 teams playing each other only once, either home or away.
Defending champion Mohun Bagan Super Giant will play Kerala Blasters, while newly-promoted Inter Kashi will go up against FC Goa on the opening matchday, February 14.